USCIS Workload Transfer

By Allison Posner

USCIS recently began transferring Forms I-130, Petition for Alien Relative[1], filed by U.S. citizens for their eligible immediate relatives (spouse, child, or parent) from the National Benefits Center to the Nebraska, Texas, and California Service Centers to balance the agency’s overall operational workload.

If your client’s case was transferred, USCIS will send a notice listing the transfer date and where the case will be processed. The receipt number will not change and there should be no further delay in case processing.

If you have filed a Form I-130 and you receive a request for evidence or any other type of communication from USCIS, please read the notice carefully to ensure that you respond to the same service center that sent you the notice.

USCIS has recently updated its website at http://www.uscis.gov[2] with processing times[3] for the transferred Forms I-130. Remember that if you have not received a decision on your case within the published processing time, you may submit an inquiry to USICS using e-Request[4] or contact the National Customer Service Center (NCSC) at 1-800-375-5283.

CLINIC members who do not receive a response or receive an unsatisfactory response should contact me at aposner@cliniclegal.org[5]. The format for sending Allison an inquiry can be found in CLINIC’s Advocacy Guide[6].